Many vehicles include a cradle or sub-frame mounted to an underbody of the vehicle. The cradle is often located beneath a powertrain at a front end of the vehicle. The cradle serves to absorb energy, including vibrations and shocks, when a load is applied to the vehicle.
The cradle can be mounted to the underbody by a bolt. The bolt is surrounded by a sleeve and a box type joint of the cradle is welded to the sleeve. The bolt maintains the connection between the cradle and the underbody even when the load is applied to the vehicle. Therefore, the bolt does not shear and the cradle does not separate from the underbody with this design.
In other designs, the cradle can be mounted to the underbody by a bolt and the bolt shears to completely separate the cradle and the underbody.
In yet other designs, an intermediate bracket attaches the cradle to the underbody. The intermediate bracket has a groove that is open on one side of the bracket. A pin rests in the groove and there is no feature that overlaps the open side of the groove. When the load is applied to the vehicle, the pin moves out of the groove at the opening to separate the cradle from the underbody.